With the absence of NHL hockey, this winter promises to be cold and lonely for us fans. But just because the league has shut down, it doesn't mean that we have to follow suit. There's plenty to talk about. Hockey has a rich and storied past, and we often don't have time to look at how the NHL got to where it is today.

Tightening polls after last week's first presidential debate could make Tuesday night's showdown between John Edwards and Dick Cheney a historic first: a vice presidential debate that plays a pivotal role in who becomes president.

A recent study commissioned by Yahoo and advertising company OMD may not have been broad enough to generate sweeping statements on life with the Net, but the 12 families who gave up Internet access for two weeks could tell you a lot about life without it.

Mark Cuban was already well-known as a flamboyant self-made billionaire. TV is about to elevate that fame. He canned three contestants on the premiere of his reality show, The Benefactor, last Monday. Episode 2 airs tonight at 8 ET on ABC. He's president of HDNet, a high-definition TV network and owns the Dallas Mavericks NBA team. Forbes said he was worth $1.3 billion in 2003, the world's 329th-richest person. He got there by co-founding MicroSolutions, which he sold to CompuServe in 1990. He then co-founded Broadcast.com, which rose 250% the day of its initial public offering in 1998 and was sold to Yahoo with near-perfect timing at the peak of the Internet craze in 1999. Timing might be everything, but the 45-year-old said his business philosophy is "no balls, no babies." That's something you don't hear at too many board meetings, so USA TODAY corporate management reporter Del Jones went to Cuban for an explanation.

In the 10 years since major league baseball's lights were dimmed and the World Series canceled, players and owners have cashed in. With this remarkable recovery, baseball has shown it perhaps has learned something from its darkest days. Yet players, management and experts agree the possibility looms that a new negotiation could trigger another disaster.

Starting college early doesn't always translate to immediate playing time, but Joe Fields might become an exception. If he does, he could make his debut on national television Sunday. Fields is one of three quarterbacks competing to start for Syracuse against 25th-ranked Purdue.

This was supposed to be the summer the Braves faced stark reality. Their amazing run of 12 consecutive division titles was going to end. Wait a minute. Check the standings. They're leading the division by 3 games and threatening to finish first again.

A sunspot group aimed squarely at Earth has grown to 20 times the size of our planet and has the potential to unleash a major solar storm.The amorphous mix of spots, together called Number 652, has been rotating across the Sun and growing for several days. On Friday, it sat at the center of the solar disk.